Is this the Angels' best pitching staff ever?

Some pitchers provide more than just relief for their teammates. Here's <b>C.J. Wilson</b> releasing some tension from teammate <b>Albert Pujols</b> during the Angels' 12-5 win over San Francisco last Tuesday. <b>Click on the photo</b> to see more evidence for the case that this might be the best Angels pitching staff ever.PHOTO BY KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, TEXT BY LANDON HALL, THE REGISTER

It's hard to compare different players from different eras. But hey, the Angels were off Monday, so let's while away the hours pontificating and debating.

Believe it or not, the Angels had a pretty good pitching staff last year, led by Jered Weaver, who went 18-8 with a 2.41 earned-run average, finishing second in the Cy Young voting. The pitchers had a collective ERA of 3.57, the lowest in the American League and only the second time since 1976 the Angels had an ERA under 3.60.

This year the Angels raised the bar by signing C.J. Wilson, one of the premier starters in the majors, and adding three terrific relievers – Ernesto Frieri, LaTroy Hawkins and Jason Isringhausen. Throw in starter Garrett Richards, who's 23 and is pitching like he wants to stay with the big club this time around, and you have a staff that's even better than last year's.

Through 73 games the Angels have a staff ERA of 3.42. Since the franchise was born in 1961, the team's pitchers have recorded that low an ERA only six other times. It's happened only once since 1973, when the designated-hitter rule was implemented in the AL and runs started to become more plentiful. The Angels' lowest ERA in the DH era was 1989, when Chuck Finley and Bert Blyleven helped the team put up an ERA of 3.28.

That year the Angels won 91 games but finished only third in the division; this was the Stone Age, remember, before the wild card.

This year there are two wild-card spots, which means the Angels, along with a lot of other teams, will be scrambling for the playoffs in the second half of the season, making pitching even more important for those clubs.

Angels pitchers might have to keep carrying the team on certain nights. Despite strong performances so far by Mike Trout, Mark Trumbo and Albert Pujols, the Angels' offense has been weak. Entering Tuesday night's game at Baltimore, the team ranked 11th in the AL and 21st in MLB in runs scored with 301. And in the race for the AL West Division title, they're only 5.0 games behind Texas, which leads the majors with 386 runs scored. As of Monday the Angels were only a half-game behind Tampa Bay for the second wild-card spot, if we may be so bold as to start thinking about that possibility before even half the games have been played.

Considering what's at stake, is this the best pitching staff the Angels have ever assembled? Click on the photo to get the lowdown on some of the 2012 team's major contributors, as well as learn more about the best years for pitching in team history.

Some pitchers provide more than just relief for their teammates. Here's C.J. Wilson releasing some tension from teammate Albert Pujols during the Angels' 12-5 win over San Francisco last Tuesday. Click on the photo to see more evidence for the case that this might be the best Angels pitching staff ever. PHOTO BY KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, TEXT BY LANDON HALL, THE REGISTERJered Weaver has been the ace of the staff for four straight years now, and he continues to be one of the elite starters in the AL. He's 7-1 with a 2.40 ERA. Caveat: He missed three starts because of a back strain, so fans are hoping there's no recurrence. PHOTO BY CHRIS CARLSON, AP, TEXT BY LANDON HALL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTERDan Haren is only 5-7, but his ERA is 4.24, indicating that the Angels haven't exactly given him much of a comfort zone with run support. He's been sharp, but there's not much room for error when he makes a minuscule mistake. Caveat: Haren has allowed an uncharacteristically high eight walks in his past 21.1 innings, compared with one in the previous 22.2 IP. PHOTO BY ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, TEXT BY LANDON HALL, THE REGISTERErvin Santana (4-8) looks more like the guy who threw the no-hitter last year than the one who had to sheepishly acknowledge he's a "home run pitcher" earlier this season. In his last two starts he's pitched 17 innings and allowed only five hits and two earned runs, while striking out 15. Caveat: He's still given up a high number of homers (18), and he's been much more unsteady on the road, with a 5.79 ERA, compared with 4.25 at home. PHOTO BY PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, TEXT BY LANDON HALL, THE REGISTERJerome Williams looked better than his ostensible job as between-days starter on May 1, when he pitched one of the best games the Angels have had all season, tossing a complete-game shutout against the Twins. He's 6-5 with a 4.46 ERA overall. Caveat: The breathing problem that plagued him after leaving his last game, and which currently has him on the DL, is alarming. PHOTO BY ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, TEXT BY LANDON HALL, THE REGISTERC.J. Wilson has been as good as advertised. He's 8-4 with a 2.44 ERA and should make the All-Star team for the second straight year. Caveat: He's walked 39 batters, and in his last start he allowed 10 hits, but the Angels' offense bailed him out in a 12-5 win over the Giants. PHOTO BY KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, TEXT BY LANDON HALL, THE REGISTERGarrett Richards appeared to be ticketed back to Triple-A Salt Lake, but Williams' respiratory problem allowed him to stick around to pitch Sunday's game against the Dodgers. Richards got a no-decision, but he put the Angels in position to win. Overall he's 2-0 with an ERA of 1.63. Caveat: The Angels still have a tough decision pending when Williams comes off the DL. PHOTO BY CHRIS CARLSON, AP, TEXT BY LANDON HALL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The Angels not only have the best ERA among their starting pitchers, their bullpen is at the top of the AL as well. It's been an amazing tranformation for that group. Just as Mike Trout changed the dynamic offensively, Ernesto Frieri altered it on the relief-pitching side. He's given up only four hits and no runs while striking out 38 since being traded from the Padres on May 3. Caveat: He's given fans cold sweats by allowing 21 baserunners in 22 innings, 14 of them by walk. PHOTO BY ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, TEXT BY LANDON HALL, THE REGISTERScott Downs has been the most reliable member of the bullpen, and with an ERA of 0.36 he could join Frieri, Wilson and Weaver in Kansas City for the All-Star Game. Caveat: Health. Downs lucked out by avoiding serious injury twice early in the season, but after tweaking his side against Colorado on June 10, he didn't pitch again for eight games. PHOTO BY KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, TEXT BY LANDON HALL, THE REGISTERJason Isringhausen barely made the team in spring training but has proven a valuable situational reliever. He's 2-0 with a 1.73 ERA in 26.0 innings. Caveat: He and Hawkins are both 39, so if they're used for more than an inning at a time, it's a gamble whether they'd be available the very next game. PHOTO BY HANNAH FOSLEIN, GETTY IMAGES, TEXT BY LANDON HALL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTERLaTroy Hawkins is 1-0 with a 0.66 ERA, and since he returned from missing a month with a fractured finger he's given up five hits and six walks in six appearances, but hasn't let anyone score. PHOTO BY KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, TEXT BY LANDON HALL, THE REGISTER
So where does the Angels' pitching staff rank in franchise history? In 2002 the team put up a 3.69 ERA and had an 18-game winner in Jarrod Washburn. Ramon Ortiz won 15 games and Kevin Appier 14. But like everything else associated with that World Series championship team, it took a cast of many delivering clutch performances when it counted. Troy Percival saved 40 games, but the rest of the bullpen delivered with 31 of the team's 99 victories. PHOTO BY LISA BLUMENFELD, GETTY IMAGES, TEXT BY LANDON HALL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
In the 1970s the Angels had some phenomenal pitching, which you'd expect with Nolan Ryan on the team from 1972-79. But in 1976 Frank Tanana was the ace and not Ryan. He went 19-10 with a 2.43 ERA and 261 strikeouts, finishing third in the AL Cy Young voting.

Ryan won 17 games but lost 18 and had an ERA of 3.36, with 327 strikeouts. The team ERA was 3.36. Despite that one-two punch, the Angels went just 76-86. PHOTO BY AP, TEXT BY LANDON HALL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Ryan arrived in 1972, but the Angels had a pretty good pitching staff already in 1971. That year Andy Messersmith went 20-13 with an ERA of 2.99 with 14 complete games. Clyde Wright went 16-17, with a matching 2.99 ERA. They both pitched exactly 276 2/3 innings. Despit ea team ERA of 3.10, the Angels won only 76 games that year, too. PHOTO FROM THE REGISTER ARCHIVES, TEXT BY LANDON HALL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
In 1970 Clyde Wright pitched the Angels' first no-hitter for the team since it had moved to Anaheim, four years earlier. In 1972 Wright went 18-11 with a 2.98 ERA, and the newly arrived Ryan went 19-16 and 2.28 in 39 starts. Most incredible, the duo combined for 35 complete games. That era is long gone. The staff ERA was 3.06, second-lowest in franchise history. PHOTO BY AP, TEXT BY LANDON HALL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
In 1973 the DH rule had an immediate impact, as the Angels' staff had an ERA of just 3.57. But the pitchers threw a franchise-record 72 complete games. Ryan threw two no-hitters, including this one against the Detroit Tigers on July 15. PHOTO BY RICHARD SHEINWALD, AP, TEXT BY LANDON HALL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The 1989 team led the American League with 32 complete games, and also pitched 20 shutouts. Chuck Finley went 16-9 that year, while Bert Blyleven went 17-5 and Kirk McCaskill went 15-10. Jim Abbott went 12-12. The only weak link in the starting rotation was Mike Witt, who went 9-15 with a 4.54, the only one among the five with an ERA over 4.00. PHOTO BY OTTO GREULE JR., GETTY IMAGES, TEXT BY LANDON HALL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The best pitching staff in Angels history was the 1964 edition. In just the franchise's fourth year of existence, 23-year-old starter Dean Chance became a star, going 20-9 with an ERA of 1.65 (still a franchise record) and winning the Cy Young award. He pitched 11 shutouts. This guy was a one-man gang.

And yet there were plenty of other contributors: Fred Newman went 13-10 with a 2.75 ERA, and Bo Belinsky, in his last productive period, went 9-8 and 2.86. Closer Bob Lee saved 19 games, had an ERA of 1.51 and logged 137 innings. By comparison, in 1992, the year Dennis Eckersley saved 51 games and won both the Cy Young and MVP, he pitched 80 innings. Despite a team ERA of 2.91 in 1964, the Angels went just 82-80. PHOTO BY AP, TEXT BY LANDON HALL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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